Crowds
by Raine Leonhart
Summary: Three times Rita Mordio had to deal with crowds in Zaphias.


Rita Mordio was never a people person.

She found that, more often than not, they were too noisy all the time. They would get too excited about the littlest of things, be too boisterous and loud and all _touchy-feely-grabby_ with each other (though this was mainly partaken by adolescent males who would trap each other in headlocks and tickle the girls who tickled _their_ fancy).

But most of all, she hated crowds. They were huge. They were fast. They were _loud_ and _rowdy_ and full of _so many people_.

The first time Rita entered Zaphias after the Adephagos' defeat, she was overwhelmed with the noise.

Gripping the railing tightly, Rita peered over the edge. She could see blue and orange uniforms scattered throughout the crowds; knights from the Flynn Brigade and Schwann Brigade were trying to move citizens away from where the Fiertia would land... and failing miserably.

"Oh, what should we do?" Estelle panicked. "We can't land with all these people in the way! They're going to get squished!"

"Then we wait," Yuri shrugged, seemingly unfazed by the wave of chants and cries of hero worship. "Let Flynn and the knights take care of this." He walked into the cabin, black hat in hand.

He was probably going to take a nap and do nothing, Rita scoffed. What she wouldn't give for peace and quiet...

An hour later, a designated patch of grass was set and the ship finally landed, nearly squashing Adecor and Boccos. They squawked at each other and ran in circles before they finally got out of the way. Once everyone on the Fiertia had disembarked the ship, the crowd suddenly closed in. Knights were pushed out of the way, and people began to reach for the heroes, grabbing at their clothes and reaching to touch their faces.

Rita tried to punch her way through, but after so many people she was getting fed up. Lighting the ends of her fingertips, she called out to the others. "_Follow me! I have a way out!_" Rita charged forward with her hands outstretched. Her left hand sent out tiny sparks of fire; the fingers on her right hand jabbed people in the arms, hot enough to hurt without leaving blisters.

Right behind her and despite all the noise, she could hear Raven mutter, "What a violent little girl."

She reached back and jabbed a finger in the middle of his forehead.

_x_

The second time Rita entered Zaphias on the Fiertia, Estelle was in the castle and Judith was heading to Nordopolica.

Looking below the Fiertia, Rita shuddered. There, down at the end of the Lower Quarter, were _thousands_ of people, all clumped up together like a massive wave. Vaguely, she considered spitting over the edge.

Who would be the lucky one to get hit?

"Oh, dear, that looks like it could be a problem." Judith joined Rita by the ship's railing. Over at the edge of their landing spot, a fight had broken out. Men were shoving other men, teens were wrestling on the ground, and women were trying to pull the men apart.

Raven, who was sitting against the cabin, stuck a finger in his ear and yawned. "What could be a problem, Judy darlin'?"

"There's a fight going on where we're suppose to land," Rita grumbled, bored and annoyed. Maybe she could find Yuri somewhere and get him to train the dog to pee over the edge...

"Ahh, don't worry, I'm sure the knights have got it together." Raven pulled his finger out of his ear: a quick inspection, _flick flick_.

Rita made a face. _Gross._ "Remember the last time, old man?" She bit out.

He shrugged and leaned back, hands behind his head. "They've had a lotta' practice since then, Rita darlin'." He drawled lazily. "Half an hour, this time, an' we can land."

The archer was right: within half an hour, the fight had been ended after numerous shouts of "I say!" and "Ouch! That hurt!" and the ship landed safely, nearly squashing Adecor and Boccos in the process. _Again_.

Why did they suck so much at getting out of the way?

"You're sure you don't wanna get off here, Judy?" Yuri asked.

"Oh, that's quite all right." Judith smiled. "I've got things to finish up at the coliseum first. Tell the princess I say hi, will you?"

"Will do," Yuri nodded, then stepped on the gangplank and walked away from the boat, towards the crowd. Repede walked beside him and Karol followed from behind, wincing at the noise.

"Aren't ya' gonna get off?" Raven asked Rita. She grimaced at the crowd and the noise.

"Can't I get off when the crowd disappears or something?"

The archer stuck out a finger and shook his head. "No can do, missy. Judy here has to get ta' Nordopolica, and if the boat's still here, it's gonna take a loooong time before they go away." As Rita's face paled slightly, he added with a leering grin, "What, are ya' scared?"

"What? N-no! No way!" She crossed her arms and turned her head the other way with a '_hmph!_'

Raven stroked his chin for a moment, before a sharp gleam entered his eyes and his grin widened. She was probably going to kill him later, but...

"H-hey! What are you do-"

"_Never fear! Raven the Great is here!_"

"_H-HEY!_"

Judith watched as he picked Rita up bridal style and dashed into the crowd.

"Have fun, you two!" She called out.

_x_

The third time Rita entered Zaphias, Raven was not with them.

That was well enough for Rita, who was _still_ embarrassed from the previous landing _months_ ago. Oh, how she longed to find him again to give him a good, hard, _fifth_ beating.

"Relax, Rita. If you think about it, it was actually pretty funny." Yuri joked. "I'd never seen the old man run so fast before the last time he saw you."

"Yeah! Oh man, that was hilarious! The way he just ran through the crowd with you in his arms-!"

The ship had _just_ landed when Karol (who, after a year, was still a short, scrawny boy) went flying into the crowd. Many pairs of hands reached up to catch and grab at him.

"Whoa, easy there." Yuri backed away from the red-faced mage. "We don't wanna have to bring Estelle down from her busy schedule to come heal him, now do we?"

Rita stomped her foot and crossed her arms as Yuri, in the lead once again, walked off the Fiertia. She blinked. Where were Judith and Repede? Scanning the boat, she realized that she was the only one left. Huh. Where did they-

Against the buildings of the Lower Quarter, Rita could see blur of blue hair and fur. How _sneaky_.

Walking off the gangplank, the brunette had _just_ put her foot down on the land when she heard cries of "Make way for the captain!" and "Out of the way, I say! Move, move!"

The crowd parted and Schwann rode in, saddled on a white steed. The imperial crest was embossed on the horse's chanfron. He stopped in front of her and his men fanned out to stand in a line at his sides.

... _Was he serious?_

"Schwann Oltorain, First Captain of the Imperial Knights." He paused, turning his horse to an angle so that he could fully face her. "I have orders to escort Lady Mordio to the castle."

Rita slapped a palm to her face and groaned. "You're kidding me..."

"I assure you, I kid you not." He stated, holding out a hand.

"And what do you mean by that?" She glared and pointed at his outstretched arm.

"It is an insult to the princess should an honoured guest have to _walk_ all the way to the castle after such a long journey." Without warning, his horse trotted forward. He grabbed her arm, hoisting her up and seating her in front of him.

"H-hey! What-!"

"It is also an insult," he added, "for an honoured guest to face her escort's back."

Rita huffed and crossed her arms. She couldn't fight him in front of so many people when he was a well-respected Captain. Even she knew how reputations worked. His arms wrapped around her to hold the reins. "What about the others?"

"Yuri Lowell and his canine reside in the Lower Quarter. They may rest at home before they are ready to be escorted by my men. Karol Capel is currently..." He scanned over the quiet mass of people. "... lost in the crowd, and Lady Judith is being escorted by knights of the Flynn Brigade as we speak."

"That's a lie, and you _know_ it." The horse began to trot, and the wave of bodies parted almost instantly.

"If you say so."

Rita leaned back into Schwann's chest, arms still crossed. "I'm also going to kill you later." She muttered darkly, loud enough just for his ears. He chuckled, and she felt it reverberate through her back.

"As you wish."

**_x x x_**

Oh man, almost 1700 words in one day, the second day after I finish DoM. I had this crowd idea in the middle of writing the last chapter of said story and it was just... gfjkhgfl. It was originally going to be just the Schwann scene of him riding in on a white horse (so that I could make the selected characters Rita and Schwann and have a non-depressing story involving the two), but then the whole Raven the Great thing popped into my head and I was all fdjkafa what do I doooooo and I slapped em both down (and went with Raven instead of Schwann). The first one was just a bonus I slapped in too. Yeah.

Thanks for reading! :)


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